# WTF Baltimore? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677 "2015-04-27T22:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/1 "2015-04-27T22:01:44Z")
What in the hell is going on in Baltimore, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/2 "2015-04-27T22:03:25Z")
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in a press conference Sunday: she asked the Baltimore Police Department to “give those who wished to destroy space to do that.” Apparently Baltimore Police Department obliged. So did “those who wished to destroy”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/3 "2015-04-27T22:06:40Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What in the hell is going on in Baltimore, and why? People who feel (rightly or wrongly) like they’ve been mistreated by the police for years have reached a boiling point and are lashing back in the only way they feel able. It’s not necessarily a logical response, but it is predictable. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/4 "2015-04-27T22:15:37Z")
Apparently there are outsiders coming in and stirring up trouble. Just like what happened much later in Ferguson. The Ferguson protests got hijacked by outsiders looking to riot and loot. Now its happening in Baltimore. Mobs of people can be influenced by just a few agitators. We need to look at the laws and see what applies. Some a-hole that travels from out of state just to riot in another city needs to be locked up. They pose a unique danger to public order and need to be stopped. Its different from a local that is legitimately protesting conditions in their city. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/5 "2015-04-27T22:18:47Z")
No justice, no peace. It’s not like they didn’t warn us. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/6 "2015-04-27T22:20:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Apparently there are outsiders coming in and stirring up trouble. Just like what happened much later in Ferguson. The Ferguson protests got hijacked by outsiders looking to riot and loot. Now its happening in Baltimore. The authorities pretended that’s what it was on the weekend. They cannot do that today, since all the CNN and other news sources keep talking about high school students throwing rocks, heavy pipes and bottles at the police. Even the black community leaders interviewed on TV today did not try to keep the pretense of “outside agitators” going. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/7 "2015-04-27T22:33:18Z")
Looking at this from a human right pov, I have no idea why US cities didn’t burn years ago. Not in name but in effect, the USA looks worse that Apartheid South Africa. > **[1.5 Million Missing Black Men (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/20/upshot/missing-black-men.html?abt=0002&abg=1)** > > Across the country, hundreds of thousands of black men are missing from everyday life. > **[Opinion | Forcing Black Men Out of Society (Published 2015)](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/opinion/sunday/forcing-black-men-out-of-society.html)** > > A recent analysis in The Times highlights the damage caused by the stigmatization of blackness in the United States. How the fuck the black community accept this insanity I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/8 "2015-04-27T22:33:29Z")
Several folks I know who were there said that the media got it wrong, and that the violent incidents were isolated. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/9 "2015-04-27T22:34:23Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Even the black community leaders interviewed on TV today did not try to keep the pretense of “outside agitators” going. Do you understand the concept of an “agitator”? It can certainly be agitators \*and \*high school students, they are not mutually exclusive… ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/10 "2015-04-27T22:45:59Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in a press conference Sunday: she asked the Baltimore Police Department to “give those who wished to destroy space to do that.” . . . This is quoted out of context. She actually said that there is a balancing act, and, if you give people space to protest peacefully, that also gives other people space to destroy. The only way to close off all possibility of violent protest would be to close off all peaceful protest too. The mayor was talking about how difficult it is to allow the optimum amount of space for protest, to maximize peaceful protest but minimizing violent protest. Right wing hate radio has been having a field day quoting only part of what she actually said. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/11 "2015-04-27T22:49:39Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > This is quoted out of context. She actually said that there is a balancing act, and, if you give people space to protest peacefully, that also gives other people space to destroy. > > The only way to close off all possibility of violent protest would be to close off all peaceful protest too. > > The mayor was talking about how difficult it is to allow the optimum amount of space for protest, to maximize peaceful protest but minimizing violent protest. > > Right wing hate radio has been having a field day quoting only part of what she actually said. It’s funny- and a little sad, and a lot predictable- that the rightwingers have fallen for that sort of right-wing lie _again_. I wonder how many of them thought, “Hey, would a mayor really say that she’d set aside areas for the rioters to destroy?” Apparently not too many. **Terr** , in case you’re wondering- \*this \*is what’s wrong with the Right these days. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/12 "2015-04-27T22:53:26Z")
I don’t condone the rioting, but I fully understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/13 "2015-04-27T22:56:30Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > It’s funny- and a little sad, and a lot predictable- that the rightwingers have fallen for that sort of right-wing lie _again_. I wonder how many of them thought, “Hey, would a mayor really say that she’d set aside areas for the rioters to destroy?” In context, it is just as bad. It is ridiculous that the mayor acknowledges that the police gave space, deliberately, for whatever reasons, to “those who want to destroy to do that”. No, the police is NOT allowed to do that, for whatever bleeding heart reasons. It’s just as bad as the Baltimore police commissioner today, when asked on CNN, live, where the police is while the stores have been looted, with impunity, for hours, saying that their priority is lives, especially officers’ lives, and when things get settled down, the police will maybe get to protecting property. Congrats. The police have been browbeaten into total timidity, at least in Baltimore. I am sure the residents will reap the harvest. I am glad I left the area last summer. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/14 "2015-04-27T22:58:21Z")
One tactic is to go after the groups behind this violence. Sharpton’s group especially. Supposedly he’s visiting Baltimore this weekend for the first time. But I suspect his cronies have been busy behind the scenes. Phone calls to the right people can get angry people on the streets and it quickly turns violent. Ironically they bankrupted the KKK by holding them civilly responsible for damages. The KKK lost most of its power. The same strategy can be used against Sharpton’s group. That’s if it can be proven his group is egging on the violent protests across the country. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/15 "2015-04-27T23:02:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > O > Ironically they bankrupted the KKK by holding them civilly responsible for damages. The same strategy can be used against Sharpton’s group. That’s if it can be proven his group is egging on the violent protests. “egging on” are you for real? Have a look at those two links from the NYT if you pull your head out the sand for a minute. No one calls you out but every time I see you post something I think ‘white, entitled middle class racist’. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/16 "2015-04-27T23:04:15Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > In context, it is just as bad. It is ridiculous that the mayor acknowledges that the police gave space, deliberately, for whatever reasons, to “those who want to destroy to do that”. No, the police is NOT allowed to do that, for whatever bleeding heart reasons. Huh? That’s not how I interpret it. My understanding is that the mayor was saying that by giving people space to peacefully protest, you’re also - because space is space - giving people space to destroy things. As in, if there’s a place where a crowd is allowed to gather to chant and yell and wave signs, there’s space for someone within that crowd to throw rocks. The alternative being that if there’s no space to destroy, that can only be accomplished by making sure there’s no space to protest, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/17 "2015-04-27T23:06:54Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > In context, it is just as bad. It is ridiculous that the mayor acknowledges that the police gave space, deliberately, for whatever reasons, to “those who want to destroy to do that”. Yeah, that would be bad. If, you know, that’s what she’d actually said. Here’s the actual quote: “It’s a very delicate balancing act, because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.” It’s ridiculous to think, even for a second, that a city mayor would set aside areas for rioters to destroy _and then say that she’d done that in a press conference_. I mean, come on, Terr- you’re smarter than that. It makes a hell of a lot more sense to interpret her words, perhaps chosen poorly, as “We let the protesters have their space to peacefully protest, and violent protesters took advantage of that.” It makes more sense, and furthermore, _it’s something that a politician would actually say in a press conference._ She’s accepting responsibility for that violence, and explaining how it happened. She’s not saying that she deliberately let the rioters destroy crap. Come on. > [@Terr](#): > > It’s just as bad as the Baltimore police commissioner today, when asked on CNN, live, where the police is while the stores have been looted, with impunity, for hours, saying that their priority is lives, especially officers’ lives, and when things get settled down, the police will maybe get to protecting property. > > Congrats. The police have been browbeaten into total timidity, at least in Baltimore. I am sure the residents will reap the harvest. I am glad I left the area last summer. You know, I’m going to go ahead and just assume that you’re also (deliberately?) misinterpreting this statement, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Spaulding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Miss\_Spaulding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Spaulding)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/18 "2015-04-27T23:17:52Z")
I’m pretty certain that this whole ordeal would have been over before it even had a chance to start if I were in charge. This is all such a load of crap. Anyway, whatever. It’s all downhill from here. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/19 "2015-04-27T23:21:13Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Yeah, that would be bad. If, you know, that’s what she’d actually said. Here’s the actual quote: “It’s a very delicate balancing act, because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that as well.” Exactly. “We” (that is the police) gave those who wished to destroy space to do that". It is not allowed for police, for however nice-sounding reason, to allow those who want destroy space to do that. The police’s JOB is to NOT give those who want to destroy space to do that. Even during “peaceful” protests. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677/20 "2015-04-27T23:33:58Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Exactly.\*\* “We” (that is the police) gave those who wished to destroy space to do that". > \*\* > It is not allowed for police, for however nice-sounding reason, to allow those who want destroy space to do that. The police’s JOB is to NOT give those who want to destroy space to do that. Even during “peaceful” protests. When all else fails, misquote. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-baltimore/718677.md?page=2)